(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is calling for a Wisconsin judge facing federal charges of allegedly helping a foreign national avoid federal officials to be barred from her role as judge.
Tiffany, a Republican, made the comments after video was released of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan walking a defendant through the court building past Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers there to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.
Flores-Ruiz was ultimately arrested outside the courthouse after Dugan is accused of concealing Flores-Ruiz, who was previously deported and came back to the U.S., where he was facing charges in Milwaukee of domestic battery and abuse.
“Wisconsinites deserve law-abiding judges, not activists," Tiffany said in a statement to The Center Square. "The criminal charges and video evidence make it clear: rather than upholding the law, she used her position to aid and abet a criminal illegal alien, even as victims sat in her courtroom waiting for a hearing that never happened.
"She can no longer be trusted to deliver impartial justice.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin declined to comment Friday on the release of the video.
The video depicts Dugan speaking with ICE officers in the hallway outside her courtroom and Flores-Ruiz walking through a back hallway with a person identified in an affidavit as his attorney before heading to an elevator and then being chased down and arrested on the street outside of the courthouse.
Dugan has a trial date set for July 21 after pleading not guilty.
She is charged with obstruction of a federal proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent discovery or arrest. The obstruction charge could lead to up to a $100,000 fine and a year in prison while the second concealment charge can lead to up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Tiffany had previously called for Dugan’s ouster in late April.
“Wisconsinites deserve law-abiding judges, not activists,” Tiffany wrote on April 29. “Dugan should be removed permanently.”
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